Ahn’s party named ‘New Political Party’

Published : 2014-02-16 19:52
Updated : 2014-02-16 19:52

Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new party was named the New Political Party, his new political committee announced Sunday.

“The name includes the meaning of the ‘new politics,’ which is well known to the people, and also the meaning of embracing the rational conservatives and introspective progressives,” said Keum Tae-sup, spokesman of the new party’s preparatory committee.

The name will be officially adopted on Monday during a meeting planned to lay the groundwork for the launch of the new party. The meeting will be joined by Ahn and some 320 founding members, it added.

The name was chosen from among 5,100 suggestions submitted by party members and citizens over the past week. It was the most highly favored in a poll recently conducted by the committee, Keum told reporters.

The committee has decided not to use an abbreviated form of the name, he said. The National Election Commission, the nation’s election watchdog, has approved the name, he added.

Interest in Ahn and his new party has grown since the entrepreneur-turned-politician announced that he would establish a new party in March. The party plans to field candidates for key races in the local elections scheduled for June, which would likely to bring about a three-way competition with the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party. Ahn’s preparatory committee announced last week that the new party would pursue a “politics of life” for the better welfare of the people, social unity and an end to the old politics of promise-breaking.

Ahn is the founder of Korea’s largest antivirus software firm, AhnLab. He was elected to parliament last year after dropping out of the 2012 presidential race to support the then-opposition candidate, Moon Jae-in.